On Wednesday in the House of Lords there was a discussion under the subject of Stalking Protection Orders. The Government Minister who participated was Keith Stewart who is the Advocate-General for Scotland but who is also a British lawyer based in North Berwick. There were a number of Peers who took part and one of them was Sal Brinton who is based in Kent and is a Liberal Democratic member of the House of Lords. Sadly there were no Peers that appeared to be Sussex based. However the following comment came from Sal Brinton and it led to the response from Keith Stewart who specifically mentioned these two Police forces. The discussion can be seen here.

Brinton: My Lords, the Suzy Lamplugh Trust reports that it repeatedly sees police officers trying to apply for other protections, such as non-molestation orders, instead of stalking protection orders. Given that half of stalking cases are not from domestic abuse settings, if you are being stalked by a stranger or a work colleague—not an ex-partner—non-molestation orders would be of no use. What will the Government do to change this? Otherwise, non-domestic stalking cases will continue to be ignored.

Stewart: I gratefully acknowledge the noble Baroness’s question and the terms thereof. The Government are aware that there is a bad practice of applying for the wrong order or for running SPOs in tandem with other matters, including prosecutions. These are aspects of the bad practice that we are seeking to advise against. We are also moving forward with those police forces that are doing exceptionally well—I mention Sussex and Nottinghamshire in those contexts. We are working with police and crime commissioners as well, who are also promulgating good practice through their association.

I had the privilege a number of years ago to participate in some discussions that took place following a tragic murder of Shana Grice who had been living in Brighton and Hove. She had been stalked prior to her murder and Sussex Police had made a number of mistakes in that case and so they then spent a significant amount of time and made a major set of changes in their approach when it comes to stalking cases. It is very understandable that they along with Nottinghamshire are now one of the best Police forces in our Nation when it comes to dealing with this matter.